what is it about thursdays that make me want to type completely random posts?? exhibit A and exhibit B.. this post being exhibit C. i think my mind just piles up with junk and i have to purge through a blog post.

i got a pedicure last night. yeah, that was one of my “errands”… priorities, people.

my feet were in ROUGH shape. i live in utah. it’s winter. you do the math. everyone loves a pedicure, including myself, but i am just real bad at getting them. i am so ticklish! every time the poor pedicurist tries to scrub my food with that pumice stone, i go batshit crazy. my level of ticklishness is through the roof and borderline embarrassing. i am the same with massages.. but not quite as bad. my feet are definitely the most ticklish part of my body.

why are some people ticklish to the point of crying (i really know the meaning of “tickle torture” from being tormented as a kid) and others aren’t at all? i am sure this is one i could ask google, but it is rambling thursday, so there you go.

back to the nail salon. want to know one thing i never do? paint my nails. like.. ever. i am SO not a girly girl. my nails are always naked. i always see girls posting about nail polish colors and bonding over the latest OPI or essie hue. that is just a bond i don’t share with my fellow females. however, i did get my very first manicure last night. well—scratch that—i have had a manicure to get fake nails before (NEVER AGAIN) but i had never just had a manicure where they do all that fancy stuff to your fingernails and then paint them. it was only ten bucks, so i figured i would give it a chance. i went with a very non-noticable shade of, uh, clearish sparkle something or other?

sorry for the creepy hand shot. i did the best i could to make it not awkward to look at, but clearly i failed. i will admit, i like the polish. but i probably won’t be painting the town pink any time soon.

moving on.

i can’t FREAKING stop eating cereal lately. granted, it is my favorite food, but my cereal consumption has been greater than normal lately. one bowl of cereal is fine. five bowls is not.  i finally ran out of kashi go lean last night.. and then i ran out of almond milk this morning. i figured my lack of supplies was the best thing for my current cereal situation… until i came home to a package today.

sigh. i had forgotten that cascadian farms was sending me their new formula of O’s. not that i am complaining.. free cereal?! sweet! free cereal a few days before mexico? hmm. could be problematic since i have no self control. you would think i would hold off on eating it since i told you i was out of milk. haha. no. chobani took care of that one.. the only thing that’s better than their new apple cinnamon flavor is eating cereal with their new apple cinnamon flavor.

this, my friends, is a very good combo. and for the record, i would, have, and will continue to buy both of these products with my hard earned money.. even though these particular items were sent to me for free. the things i do for taste testing. it’s a tough job, but it had to be done.. and i was the girl to do it.

let’s stop talking about cereal, or i might be tempted to go eat more.

shifting subjects…

random (sincere) compliments are the best.

i was at the gym yesterday, doing the giant sets that i told you guys about, and these two older dudes wanted to share my workout area with me. i scooched over so they could fit, and we were chatting with a bit. i joked with them and told them to get back to work and there was no time to talk! they are there every single flipping night, but we had never actually talked to each other. you know how that goes.. the regulars who make eye contact but never engage in conversation.

anyway, before i put my ear buds back in so i could get back to my workout, the super muscley macho guy said he wanted to tell me one last thing. he said that he watches people every night at the gym (not in a creeper way) and that i have incredible form. he said that a lot of people have the worst form and are doing themselves a disservice with the way they lift, but that i was doing it all right. he also said he thought someone had trained me how to lift, but when i told him i taught myself.. he gave me even more props.

THAT is a compliment that made me feel good. really good. nobody has ever paid me that type of compliment and i am sure i will remember it for the rest of my life.

it makes me want to walk up to a stranger and tell them what i love about them. and really mean it.

before i go, one last thing i forgot to mention yesterday..i am excited about BLEND.

yesterday i went to lunch with my friends from xagave. they are one of the breakfast sponsors for BLEND retreat. fortunately, they are also a utah local company, so we got to hang out. we chatted about the conference and it got me real excited!

word on the street is some people are nervous about pulling the trigger on attending because they don’t have anyone to room with. let me put it bluntly and say: DON’T be nervous. it’s like summer camp. not that i ever went to summer camp.. but i saw the parent trap a few times and have a good idea of what it’s like. we will be sure to put you in a cabin with friendly folks.  registration is open, click here to sign up. can’t wait to play in may!

and, because i love his dragon paws, here is a random photo of randy:

what a guy.

okay.. that’s enough randomness for tonight. i still have to go to the gym, figure out a fridge-clearing dinner, and make a packing list.

gosh, i hate packing. i always procrastinate when i am trying to pack.. i usually distract myself with something else.

like bowls of cereal.

Qs~

1. are you ticklish?

2. what is the best compliment anyone has ever paid you?

xo. janetha g.

check ya later alligators!

Qs~

1. what is your most used electric appliance?

2. what appliance is on your wish list?

xo. janetha g.

sometimes my impulse buying habits turn out great! for example, i bought this kangaroo contigo water bottle on a whim without thinking about it, simply because i wanted a purple contigo, and it’s turned out to be my favorite water bottle:

the compartment stores my workout printout perfectly. it doesn’t take much to please me, i guess.

other times, however, my impulse buying habits turn out to be a big waste of money.

exhibit A is this bedspread set we bought back in november:

(image source: kohls.com)

i was so hell-bent on getting a new bedspread and i liked the look of this one, so i really didn’t think about the investment before handing over my debit card to the cashier. also, i bought it at kohl’s, where they convince you that you are buying something for 87% off and, even though you are still spending $150, you are walking away with a killer deal.

this particular bedspread set ended up being HORRIBLE. it was scratchy. it felt awful next to my skin. it was cheaply made. it was bad.

buyer’s remorse.. for sure.

i was walking around the store sometime in december, killing time because marshall was working out of town, and i came across an incredibly soft, cozy comforter. it was positively perfect and i wanting it. BAD. and i also saw some microfleece sheets. after a few texts back and forth with marshall, i was back at my house, packing up the overpriced, crappy comforter set to give to goodwill and putting the soft, snuggly new items on my bed.

when marshall got back in town and crawled into the new threads for the first time, he said something like, “our bed comfortableness just went from a five to a ten!”

so, all in all, even though i wasted money on the first set, it all worked out for the best.

exhibit B of impulse purchasing gone bad is this purse i bought back in september:

i am very particular about my purses. i like them to have a cross-body strap and a handle strap. i also like them to be big enough to haul around all my crap. i was looking for a purse for months, and when i saw this one at urban outfitters, i swooped it up without a second thought. since it had both of the handle options, i knew it would be perfect.

sigh, wrong.

since september, i have been using this purse and have grumbled at least once a day about it. why, you ask? well, because it doesn’t have an outer pocket. turns out, the handle specifications really didn’t matter to me as much as the outer pocket does. i didn’t even KNOW that mattered to me until i didn’t have it. my purse before this one had the outer pocket where i exclusively stashed three things: my phone, my car keys, and gum.

well, this purse has no outer pocket and my crap—including my keys, phone, and gum—is always floating around and i get ridiculously frustrated when my phone is ringing and i can’t locate it or i am walking to my car, searching for my keys in my huge, unorganized purse the whole time. you are probably reading this, thinking i am a crazy person, right? either that or you have already stopped reading.

clearly this is something i feel passionately enough about to blog about, so i am just going to keep going. i finally decided that i’d had enough of my annoying purse, so i bought myself a new one. with not one, but TWO outside pockets!

i did sacrifice the handle strap option and this purse only has a cross-body strap.. but that was a risk i was willing to take. after searching high and low for a bag that was just the right size with just the right pockets, i decided the straps weren’t as big of a deal as i thought. i hope i don’t regret it.

today i changed purses and thought it would be fun to do a “what’s in my bag” post. i see them all the time on other blogs and they always entertain me because i am super creepy and nosy, so i figured i would join in on the fun.

first of all, here’s an instagram shot of my purse this morning:

it’s national peanut butter day today, so i wanted to be sure to have some on hand to celebrate. i threw a jar into my purse on my way out the door.

when i got home from work, i swapped my purses. here’s what’s in the bag!

this is almost everything. aside from my phone, which is currently charging, my car keys, which are on my counter, and my camera, of course, since i was using it to take the photos. i am a bad camera owner and just lug my dslr camera around in my purse.

let’s take a closer look.

in the bath & beauty department:

floss, tweezers, my favorite gum, hair elastics, single-use tooth brushes, and an owl mirror that lisa gave me.

in the medicine cabinet:

lortabs leftover from breaking my nose, cough drops, and gasx. you never know when you’re gonna have a cough or be gassy. or, i guess, need a pain pill.

in the hand protection area:

touch-screen-friendly gloves (from costco) and a reusable coffee cozy that was a gift from susan.

in the filing cabiet:

an envelope (that my w2 came in, ugh.. taxes) stuffed with things like my check book, receipts, coupons, and other odds and ends that i probably don’t need to be lugging around but i am.

in the totally miscellaneous department:

a house key that i have yet to reattach to my key chain, an extra camera card, and today’s workout.. that i am going to go do at my mom’s house after i publish this post.

and, finally.. the lip department. because it needs a department of its own:

i actually had one more in there–some aquaphor–but it’s still in my snowboarding pants from sunday.

oh, and one more thing.. i got a new wallet to match. my old wallet had a broken zipper that i had been dealing with for over five months. i never found a wallet that fit my wonky specifications, but i was finally so fed up with the broken zipper that i caved and bought this one.

it’s volcom and it’s herringbone. and it has none of my “wallet must have” specs.

i hope i don’t get buyer’s remorse.

xo. janetha g.

another monday down! only 49 left this year.. and a few of those are holidays. always looking on the bright side, right?

my day was jam packed. mondays always are, but i also have a lot to get done before leaving town—both at work and at home.

after a long day at the office, i ran a few errands around town and then headed to the gym. i missed yesterday’s workout since i was snowboarding, so i decided to pick up where i left off and completed the livefit workout that i missed.

my upper body is pretty weak, so pay no attention to the light weights.  here is how it went down. each set was completed three times before moving onto the next set.

shoulders/triceps/calves.

working set + active rest:

• smith machine bench press: 65# x 15 reps
• imaginary jump rope: 1 minute

working set + active rest:

• bench dips: body weight x 15 reps
• mountain climbers: body weight x 15 reps (alternating) each side

superset + active rest:

• standing upright dumbbell row: 20# each hand x 12 reps
• seated arnold dumbbell press: 20# each hand x 12 reps
• imaginary jump rope: 1 minute

superset + active rest:

• side dumbbell raise: 12# each hand x 12 reps
• cable triceps pushdown (rope attachment): 30# x 12 reps
• imaginary jump rope: 1 minute

superset:

• medicine ball pushups (triceps focus): body weight on toes x 10 reps
• narrow pushups (triceps focus): body weight on toes x 10 reps

working set + active rest:

• standing calf raises: 140# x 20 reps
• calf raise on leg press: 135# x 20 reps
• imaginary jump rope: 1 minute

sprints:

• 30 second sprint (ranging from 9 MPH-10 MPH)
• 30 second rest
• repeat for a total of 30 minutes

after the gym i headed home to whip up marshall’s dinner idea: prosciutto pineapple pizza. P-cubed!

it’s not really a recipe, but i thought i would share how we make our homemade pizza since we have it so often. i say “we” because this is one meal marshall loves to help out with. he doesn’t like to cook very much, but when it comes to spaghetti, tacos, or pizza.. he’s the man.

our favorite way to make pizza is on the grill, but since it’s january and cold outside.. we use our baking stone.

it’s not pretty, but it sure has been used a lot!  this stone was a gift from marshall’s mom, but they are very affordable at any kitchen store. baking stones are not just for pizza—they are great for cookies, rolls, or anything you’d use a standard baking sheet for.  the stone helps cook the food more evenly and creates a nice, brown bottom on whatever you’re cooking. i definitely recommend investing in one, you won’t be disappointed.

anyway.. back to cooking pizza at home. it really is super simple AND cheap compared to ordering a pizza. (not to mention a lot healthier.) the multigrain dough from whole foods is only $3 a ball. granted, i could probably make it from scratch for even cheaper, but convenience and being sure it’ll turn out delicious every time is worth the $3 to me.

so, here are the ingredients that went into tonight’s pizza:

• one ball of whole food’s multigrain dough + WW flour for dusting
• 6 oz (about half a can) of pizza sauce
• 4 oz grated low moisture, part skim mozzarella cheese
• 4 oz chopped prosciutto
• 6 oz chopped pineapple (we used canned rings and chopped them)

method:

1. let dough sit at room temperature for at least one hour.
2. place a baking stone in a cold oven, turn heat to 500° F.
3. roll dough in flour so it doesn’t stick.
4. using hands, shape dough into a pizza crust. make it as thin or thick as you want.
5. place dough on flat surface (we use a pizza spatula but used a cutting board before we had this gadget.)
6. layer sauce, cheese, and toppings as desired.
7. once oven has preheated, pull oven tray out and slide uncooked pizza onto the pizza stone.
8. bake for 10-12 minutes.
9. remove from oven. let the pizza cool for a few minutes before slicing & eating. yes, we have had burnt mouths in our house because we are impatient!
10. the best part is that as the pizza cools, the bottom of the crust keeps cooking on the stone and crisps up really nicely! if you want to stop it from getting any crispier, make sure you remove it from the stone.

we had our pizza with salad tonight. i prepped the salad while the pizza was in the oven. this is such a quick & healthy dinner option! marshall and i got home from the gym at 7:05 and we were eating by 7:30.

i plugged this recipe into myfitnesspal.com and a 2-slice serving (based on the pizza making 8 slices) is 465 calories, 64g carbs, 27g protein, 12g fat, and 10g fiber. good thing it’s a high carb day, right? but seriously.. this pizza is healthy. it is WAY better for you than pizza hut or dominos. it tastes eight hundred fifty three times better, too.

here are a few of our other favorite pizza combos we frequently make:

shredded chicken, red onions, mozzarella, & barbecue sauce

turkey pepperoni, black olives, green bell peppers, mozzarella, & marinara sauce

grilled chicken, artichokes, tomatoes, feta, & pesto

what are some of your favorite pizza combos?

****************************************************************

LINKBACK LOVE ROUND 1!

when somebody links back to one of my blog posts, i get an email notification. those notifications make me smile, because it means someone enjoyed one of my blog posts enough to blog about it and link back to it. you guys, as readers, don’t know when someone links back to my blog posts.

i thought it would be fun to feature some posts from people who have linked back to my posts so you can see what THEY are saying. sometimes they mention a little bit about the same topic within their blog post, and other times they write a full post on the topic. either way, it’s fun to see what THEY have to say in THEIR post.. whether it’s directly related to my post or not.  nothing wrong with a little linkback love, right?

from my app happy post about iphone apps:

• “This Makes Me Very Sad” by The Healthy Diaries
• “Weekend Ramblings” by Sugarfoot Eats

from my post about the zero scale:

• “Why I’m Not Weighing Myself” by Yoga for Breakfast

from my body for life page:

• “My New Fitness & Nutrition Plan” by Nourish & Flourish

from my pinterested post:

• “Social Media: Using Twitter, Facebook & Daily Mile to Help Get Healthy” by Making Good Choices

recipes that other bloggers have made & linked back to my recipe pages:

• Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas by Sweetly Fit
• Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie by Bess Be Fit
• Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie by Life After Bagels <—morgan had a super fun spin on it!

i love seeing what other people in blog land have to say about similar topics, and i really love to see their versions of recipes and how they turned out. hope you have a minute to check these awesome blog posts out! who knows, you may find a few new blogs to add to your reader.

xo. janetha g.

hey guys!

how was your weekend? did it fly by for anyone else, or just me?  i bet mine went by super fast for me due to the fact that i slept until 2:30 PM on saturday. yep.

what, that’s not normal for you? i guess i was just really tired. opting to sleep until the late afternoon is just one of the many reasons i have dogs instead of kids. in fact, penny and randy slept in with me and loved it.

i managed to wake up at a decent hour today–8:45 AM. i had places to be and people to see.

i had some eggs with ketchup and a couple pieces of toast with peanut butter and cherry jam, then brewed a mug of coffee for the road. i swooped by kristen’s and jessica’s houses to pick them up and we headed to park city for some sunday snowboarding at the canyons.

it snowed real hard here in utah yesterday, which made for excellent snowboarding conditions today. to make matters even better, the sun was shining and the air was calm.. blue skies and no wind make for a fabulous day at the resort.

the snow was amazing! i love snowboarding under any circumstances, but i especially love snowboarding in powder. i didn’t think that would be happening since it’s been such a crappy winter, but mother nature proved me wrong and it was a great powder day.

we took a pit stop to pee, eat cookies & cocoa, and post photos to various social media platforms. priorities, folks.

then it was back on the lifts for a couple more runs.

i couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

or better company, of course!

after four or five hours of riding, we headed down the mountain. we were super hungry and decided to stop at ahh sushi/o’shucks in jeremy ranch.

unfortunately, the sushi bar wasn’t open for another hour so we had to order from the o’shucks menu. it looked promising.

we placed our orders and snacked on peanuts while waiting for our food. i also used this time to try out a fishtail braid because kristen taught me how to do one. i need practice. a lot of it.

i ordered the ahí ahh! salad.

it looks way better than it was… like, WAY better. it was really bland and “meh”. bummer.

jessica got the fish & chips and kristen got the philly cheesesteak. they were both very unimpressed with their food. it wasn’t just subpar.. it was bad.  we spent a good chunk of the drive home talking about how disappointed we were that we just ate some super overpriced, crappy food. i am glad that it’s not just me that gets so worked up about wanting to find delicious food when eating out. oh well, lesson learned. and if you are local–learn from our mistake! don’t go to o’shucks for food.. just go for beer. and peanuts. and fishtail braid lessons.

i dropped the ladies off and headed straight to whole foods to get my grocery shopping done for the week. i usually don’t do my weekly shopping there because, let’s face it, it’s super expensive. but we want pizza this week and whole foods has the best pizza dough! plus, i was already in salt lake and whole foods was on the way home. it was probably a big mistake, because i wandered the aisles for over an hour and ended up buying a bunch of stuff i honestly didn’t need. grocery shopping is definitely one of my weaknesses.. but hey, it’s better than some of my old vices, right? i am addicted to buying overpriced groceries.. it could definitely be worse.

here a few of my favorite things to buy when at whole foods:

• nonfat whipped cream.. no sugar added, either!
• multigrain pizza dough.. like i said above, it’s the best. although i probably should try making my own dough one of these days…
• kind bars. they were on sale 4 for $5.
• pacific low sodium creamy tomato soup. it’s my favorite packaged tomato soup around.
• single-serving protein powders that i have never tried and really don’t need.. but somehow convince myself that i NEED to try them.

on the upside, chobani was actually on sale for a buck apiece. the money saved right there made up for all the frivolous items i bought. that’s my story and i’m sticking to it.

as far as the rest of my weekend goes.. it was pretty mellow.

marshall & i stayed in with the pups on friday night. i was absolutely exhausted from the work week and i even skipped my workout on friday. sometimes you just have to listen to your body and my body was saying NO GYM TODAY.  then, like i said earlier, i slept in WAY late on saturday–i got over 12 hours of sleep! i must have needed it. despite the super late sleep in, i still got a lot done. we had the entire house deep cleaned by 4:30! the laundry folding is another story, though. worst chore ever.

after cleaning, i made it to the gym for a back/biceps/abs workout but skipped the 30 minute sprints that were on the agenda. my reason for this was that my vibram 5 fingers were in the washer, so i had to wear regular shoes to the gym. regular shoes are fine for lifting, but if i am going to sprint.. i need my vibrams. anything else makes my knees hurt. although, i was secretly happy i couldn’t do the sprints. i hate cardio.

saturday night we went out for my step MIL’s birthday dinner. we headed to texas roadhouse. if you’ve ever been there, you know it’s a ridiculously dim lit restaurant so i skipped the food photography. nobody wants to see crappy, dark photos of salmon, right? of course, right. saturday night was spent trying to teach momma b to navigate pinterest. i think she’s got the hang of it! if you want to follow her, click here.  oh! and i also perfected my recipe for protein cheesecakes, i’ll be posting it this week sometime.

well, that’s my weekend in a nutshell! i am going to go make some spaghetti & asparagus for dinner. top sirloin was on sale at whole foods so it’ll be a nice change from ground turkey. the rest of the week’s dinners look like this:

• greek chicken souvlaki salads with balsamic couscous
• pineapple prosciutto pizza & green salad <–that was marshall’s idea.. pretty great idea if you ask me!
• taco soup
• tofu scrambles & potatoes o’brien
• ham & cheddar panini & creamy tomato soup

should be good! what are you having?

xo. janetha g.

this week two of my norwegian friends, espen and petter, celebrated their birthdays.  they lived here in utah back in the winter of 2007 and we became fast friends. that’s the perk of living in salt lake city.. we get people from all over the world coming here to snowboard, and i get to have friends scattered about the planet. the only downside is when winter is over, the snow leaves.. and so do they.

anyway, i did what every other person on the planet does and wished them happy birthday on their facebook walls, since i couldn’t very well do it in person. i don’t live in norway. to personalize the generic facebook wish a bit, i decided to post photos from their birthday celebrations when they were here in the states. i opened up the ol’ photo archive and took a nice trip down memory lane.

i posted this photo to espen’s wall:

and this one to petter’s:

and then i couldn’t help but keep looking at all the photos i had in my january 2007 folder. when i think of 2007, it doesn’t sound like it was all that long ago. but then i thought about it.. and that was FIVE YEARS AGO. half a decade. my mind was boggled. it made me think of this pin i see all over pinterest:

(source: funhoo.com)

guilty.

it has been quite awhile since i have done an old school flashback friday, and since i was perusing the january files anyway.. it just felt right.

flashback friday: january 2007.

at the time, i was working at my same job, but marshall and i were just friends. he worked in the manufacturing shop and i worked in the office. i had zero idea that he had a crush on me, and definitely no thought we would end up married.. that’s for sure. we didn’t start dating until june of 2007.

i was single. i was young—23 to be exact. i didn’t have a lot of responsibility. lived in a home with four girls, two dogs, and a cat.

i miss mable.

we stayed out late, snowboarded hard, and had a lot of fun. the memories made while living at that house are ones i wouldn’t trade for the world.

here i am with three of the four roomies.. out at the bar, on a wednesday night. the usual.

looks like this was back when it actually snowed.. how would that be?

i miss snow.

i also miss my metabolism. drinking giant steins of hefeweizen was no big deal.

instead of house parties being few and far between and involving games, wine, and hummus like these days.. we had to make executive decisions to decide which house party to attend. and there was never a stuffed mushroom or meatball in sight. there was always a keg, though.

complete with plastic cups.

bonus points if you noticed the sticker on the fridge.

our friends dubbed our group of girls “the wenches”… i smile every time i hear the word to this day.

sometimes the house parties were at our house. it was a big house. there was lots of room. for lots of people.

lots of snow bums, that’s for sure.

there we are.. all five roomies.. plus katie in town from oregon.

don’t mind me. i was just trying (and failing) to flash a “W” for “wench”.

it’s fun to look back.

fast forward five years to today.. four of the five of us girls living at that house are now married and the other is engaged. one has a 3 year old and another has a baby on the way. we are all “old and boring,” as we like to put it.. but i know all of us look back at that time in our life and smile.

real big.

Qs~

how are you different than you were five years ago? what do you miss? what don’t you miss?

i miss seeing these ladies on the regular. and snowboarding all the time. and feeling less like a grown up. i don’t miss hangovers. or paying rent. being a grown up isn’t so bad.. especially when it involves being married to such a babe.

xo. janetha g.

i didn’t post yesterday. i guess i could say it was because of the SOPA blackout, but i’d be lying. however, i do think that SOPA is important and if you haven’t informed yourself on the issue, i suggest you do. i am glad it was brought to MY attention. i will be honest and say that before about a week ago, i’d never even heard about it. i need to do more reading of the news and less reading of the blogs. i recognize my ignorance… i am a work in progress!

one thing i did read in the news is that gold medalist freestyle skier sarah burke passed away today due to injuries resulting from a fall while training at park city mountain resort. she was only 29. it is such a tragedy that she passed away at such a young age and it is very scary to think about how quickly lives can be taken. my prayers go out to her family and friends.

so, the real reason i didn’t post last night was because i had an appointment with the one and only momma b.

she recently got an iphone and i promised her i’d give her a tutorial on various aspects of the phone. i have to hand it to her, she is a lot better at learning to use her new phone than my bosses are. they are a tad slower to picking up on various technology tricks. i taught one of my bosses how to copy and paste the other day and he was amazed. and yeah, they are probably reading this.. so, hi, guys!

anyway, while i was teaching my mom how to use her iphone, i was showing her various apps that i love. i thought i would share a handful of my favorite iphone apps with you guys. sorry to those who have no use for a post like this, come back tomorrow!

my favorite app is probably instagram, but that’s old news.

if you have instagram, though, and wanna be buddies.. my handle is @janeeetha.  for you non-iphone users, you can go to webstagram to view anyone’s instagram feed, as long as you have their handle. also, instagram users can login to webstagram to view their instagram feed online—you can even like and comment on photos from your computer. just a little FYI.

aside from instagram, here are five apps i use regularly and love.

list

cost: $1.99

oh man. you had to know that this list-loving-lady would love a list app. this one is fun because you get to have a cute icon next to each list. YES, that was a selling point for me. the little things, folks. 

this app is pretty simple with no frills. it lets you have separate lists. within each list, you have the items. when you want to check an item off, it greys out and goes to the bottom of the list. when you uncheck it, it moves back to the top.

if you want to delete the item from the list entirely, you swipe right and delete it.

if you are wondering why you would want to keep something on the list after you’ve completed it, let me tell you. i have a “dinners” list. i have tons of dinner ideas that i have made in the past. when meal planning for the week, i scroll through all the checked off meals. if i see one i want to make for the upcoming week, i uncheck it and it brings the item back to the top of my list.

i also use this feature for grocery staples. i have my grocery list, and things like eggs, milk, bread, bananas, etc are things i buy weekly, so when i throw the item in my cart, i check it off and the item goes to the bottom of the list and is greyed out until i uncheck it again for the next week. however, if i have something on my list like soy sauce (which is something i buy every few months, if that) then i will do the swipe and totally delete it.

got it?

camera+

cost: $0.99

this app takes photos, but i usually don’t use it to do so. i just use the camera on my phone and then use camera+ to edit. 

it has a lot of fun filters and is entertaining to play around with.

here are a few images that i made in camera+:

fun.

whole foods market recipes

cost: free

this app has a lot of features, including a shopping list page and a whole foods location search… but the real reason i like it is for the on-hand feature.

you can plug in what you have on hand at home and it will suggest recipes using those ingredients. you don’t have to be shopping at whole foods to take advantage of this feature!

if you make a recipe and really like it, you can add it to the favorites section.

another cool feature is you can search recipes by course, category, or special diet. 

diptic

cost: $0.99

this is another photography app. it lets you put multiple photos into one shot. there are several frame options and you also get to customize the border (color, width, shape).

diptic lets you export the image directly to other apps like facebook, twitter, or insagram. it’s fun to play around with.

here are a few of my collages made in diptic:

obviously i am a fan of the 4-square layout, eh?

scramble with friends

cost: free version with ads or pay $0.99 for the version without ads

everyone is already playing words with friends, which is like scrabble.. but the latest on the game front is scramble with friends, which is like boggle.

my family and i LOVE boggle, but rarely get together to play it, so this game is a dream come true for us. 

the only downfall is you have to use “coins” to play, and you can either buy coins (lame) or just wait for the clock to tick and you make more coins after a certain amount of time has gone by. i guess this is only a problem if you are playing several games at once, though.

and that’s that. again, sorry for those non-iphone users who really had no use for this post. promise i will be back tomorrow with a little something for everyone.

well, i am off to the gym for legs and then i will be making garlic burgers & sweet potato fries for dinner. it’s a high carb day!

Q~

as my girl holly says, sharing is caring! what are your favorite apps?

xo. janetha g.

last tuesday’s list of twos was so fun that i couldn’t resist a repeat. hey, if it’s not broke…

another more real reason i am doing this again is that it’s 9:45 PM and i just got done eating dinner. i still have to clean the kitchen.. but i figure blogging is a great way to procrastinate.

two things from today.

1. i got my hair done! nothing new. well, kind of, i guess. i got low lights so it’s more my natural color: the beautiful dishwater blonde. or should i say blah-nd? i am the boringest hair person known to man. like i just said, if it’s not broke…

that brings me to #2.. i got home from my hair appointment around 7:15 PM and STILL had to go to the gym.

2. i skipped my sprints today. after a 1-hour long weight session focusing on back, arms, and abs.. i was supposed to do 30 minutes of sprints. i got done with my weights at 8:40. sorry sprints, i will do you another day. like my mom always says: something is better than nothing!

two movies to see right now.

1. the girl with the dragon tattoo. saw this awhile back and loved it. i want to read the book now, too! i will be taking it to mexico.

2. mission impossible: ghost protocol. saw this last night and was surprised how much i liked it. i am not usually one for action films, but this one i really enjoyed. the plot was interesting enough to keep me engaged.

two things i ate today.

1. diced grilled chicken + asparagus + spaghetti squash.. with reduced sugar ketchup. this low carb thing is making me get a little creative. it was actually a really good lunch, albeit strange.

2. nachos deluxe.. without the chips. when i got home from the gym, i assembled nachos deluxe for marshall. we call it this because it sounds fancy. who doesn’t like the word “deluxe”? nachos deluxe consists of chips, colby jack cheese, black beans, avocado, salsa, greek yogurt, and taco meat made with ground chicken, red onion, and green chiles. marshall made the meat while i was at the gym, so all i had to do was assemble the nachos. since i am low carbing it (my computer just autocorrected that to “crabbing”-ha!) i skipped the beans and chips and had a big bowl of meat, cheese, avocado, greek yogurt, and salsa. it was actually really good and i didn’t miss the extra carbs a single bit. the benefit of low carb days is i get to eat lots of fat to get my calories in. avocado.. cheese.. peanut butter.. more cheese..

two youtube videos you must watch.

1. shit nobody says. ohhh my gosh. the first line is the best. or maybe the one about ikea furniture.

2. why girls hate each other. jenna marbles never lets me down. usually she’s just hilarious, but this particular video has a legit message.

two gadgets i’m loving.

1. sonicare airfloss. marshall got me this for christmas (without me asking for it, i didn’t even know it existed!) and i LOVE it! it makes flossing easy and, dare i say it, fun. it sprays a shot of water and air between my teeth, making my smile so fresh and so clean.

(photo source: sonicare.com)

2. kitchen aid 3.5 cup food chopper. another gift from marshall that surprised me. it’s so handy to chop small things in this little guy instead of pulling out and assembling my huge food processor. i use it almost daily!

(image source: kitchenaid.com)

two websites i really like.

1. my fitness pal. i have been using this to help me track my carbs for these carb cycling days.. i don’t usually count calories or macros, but this website makes it really simple AND their database is huge. i haven’t found one food i have eaten that isn’t in there. also, it lets you adjust your daily macro goals so you know exactly where you’re at for the day. i won’t be tracking things for long, but for now.. this website is really helpful.

2. dogfunk. can’t.. stop.. buying.. clothes. or wallets. or luggage. or swimsuits. really, i can’t stop. the free shipping isn’t helping. plus, their warehouse is right down the road from me.. so it makes returns and exchanges way too easy.

the last two things i used my debit card for.

1. groceries. $100 worth. we are stocked up for awhile! probably won’t need much else before we head to mexico.

2. a redbox DVD. fright night. it was actually pretty good!

two cute pup photos.

sorry to my instagram followers for the redundancy.

1. marshall took this one.

2. she’s a spaz. i love her.

two national food holidays you should know about.

1. january 19th (this coming thursday) is national popcorn day.

2. january 24th (a week from today) is national peanut butter day.

don’t say i didn’t warn you.

two brunches from the weekend.

i say brunch because i woke up at 11 and didn’t eat breakfast ‘til noon both saturday and sunday…

1. scrambled eggs+aged parmesan & a toasted english muffin with peanut butter (crunchy!) + cherry jam & coffee with almond milk.

2. multigrain protein waffle (later topped with homemade raspberry jam) & coffee with whole milk.

yum.

your turn. two lists of twos, anything goes.

xo. janetha g.